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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28626615">Sub Signa Terra Et Martis</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrToddWilkins/pseuds/MrToddWilkins'>MrToddWilkins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Gift of Apollo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ambitions - Joseph Dobrian, Space Explorers RPF, Voyage - Stephen Baxter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Buddies to lovers, Cross-Generational Friendship, Expose, Gen, Mars, Mentor to Lover, No Bashing, Non-Linear Narrative, Older Man/Younger Woman, Retelling, Tom Riddle is Not Voldemort, Voldemort never existed, a little magic, family life, non-traditional story</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 10:53:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>647</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28626615</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrToddWilkins/pseuds/MrToddWilkins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>David J.Palinkas tells his story - a story of family,life,exploration,and existentialism </p><p>(this summary sucks - not like anybody’ll read this anyways)</p><p>Title is Latin - ‘under the signs of Earth and Mars’</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Christine Wainwright/Andy Palinkas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Gift of Apollo [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1433635</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Epigraph</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The old order changeth, yielding place to new,<br/>  And God fulfils himself in many ways,<br/>  Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.</p><p>- Alfred,Lord Tennyson</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Oral History Backgrounds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Name: David Jon Palinkas</p><p>Oral History: 4 March 2013, 11 March 2013, 25 May 2013, 7 June 2013, 30 July 2013, 21 October 2013</p><p>NASA Experience:</p><ul>
<li>Hired by Crewed Spacecraft Center, late 1979</li>
<li>Assistant Simulator Supervisor, March 1981-July 1983</li>
<li>Simulator Supervisor, July 1983-October 1987</li>
<li>Selected for astronaut training, June 1987</li>
<li>Completed astronaut training, April 1988</li>
<li>Payload Manager on STS-V29 mission, March 1990</li>
<li>Served on various support roles for Ares 4/5/Aelita 1 joint mission, 1990-1991</li>
<li>Mission Specialist 3 on Ares 7/Aelita 2 joint mission, October 1994-September 1995</li>
<li>Mission Specialist on ASP 96C mission, November 1996</li>
<li>Chief of Astronaut Office Robotics Branch, December 1996-May 1999</li>
<li>NASA-48 resident astronaut on Mir 1, February-June 2001</li>
<li>Chief of Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, August 2001-March 2005</li>
</ul>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Introducing la familia Wainwright</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Iowa City, as anyone knows, is the capital of the Grain State. It enjoys a population of 160,000 in the greater metropolitan area, a climate that's not too cold or too hot,it's the county seat of Lewis County,and........well,why don't you visit sometime?</p><p>It was also where I grew up. I was born on 17 June 1955, 49 months before my brother Andrew and 78 before our brother Mark. Andrew is the source for a lot of the gossip I'm about to share. He lived a few doors down from one of the 'better' families in the city. From a distance, they presented themselves like so many other families all over America: safe, decent, innocent. Get closer, though, and you started seeing the shadows underneath. Or at least Andrew did. I know I shouldn't be relaying this to you via my autobiography,of all mediums,but where else could I tell this story?</p><p>The family I speak of were the Wainwrights. First,there was James,the father,born 1948. A GP, who obtained his degree in 1974. A model rocket enthusiast as well. Tall,with dark blonde hair and a charming smile. He looked a lot like Tom Cruise. And he had the winning personality to match.</p><p>The matriarch of the clan was Abigail Edsforth Wainwright,a year her husband's junior. She was at first a homemaker and hedge-witch of sorts (that doesn't enter into my story). Later,she became a junior partner in a souvenir shop run by her friend Hermione Puckle. When Puckle retired in 1998 she ran the shop. She had lighter hair than her husband. She also had blue eyes and a warm smile. She was the amiable type,always getting involved in her neighborhood.</p><p>Their first child was their only son,David,born in the spring of 1976. The David I knew was a tall man with long hair and scholarly pretensions. Pretensions,I say,as his writing left things to be desired. I do not say that it was bad writing,as he had the signs of talent,but what I saw of it was very purple,overstuffed if you will. Davis was the sort of man who would take a 10 word sentence and make 100 words of it. Supporting him was his wife Mercy,whose second cousin was my fellow astronaut (and crewmate on my third mission) John Blaha. Mercy was a lovely blonde lady with prominent lips who spoke with a lisp. They have three children:Julia,Theoden,and Lucas.</p><p>Melissa Jane Wainwright was born on New Year’s Day in 1981,quite possibly the first American born in that year. Melissa was (and is) a gracious young lady. Like her mother’s,her hair existed in that sweet spot between blond and brown. She had pretty blue eyes set in a lovely oval face. Her smile was a wry one that could put anyone to shame or wish their smile could be as good as hers. </p><p> </p>
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